The breakneck pace of change within the healthcare marketing and education industry, in conjunction with increasing FDA limitations and diminishing budgets, brings with it intense scrutiny over every brand decision, measure, and tactic. Once considered an "automatic," the peer-to-peer environment as the definitive, tried-and-true core channel for reaching HCPs and advancing brand agendas has come under fire as brand teams struggle to do more with less. The traditional peer-to-peer setting--thought leader physicians and other healthcare professionals interacting and sharing knowledge face-to-face--can be a maddening study in contrasts. Here, for instance, are highly regarded authorities in their field directly communicating the results of painstakingly conducted research and rigorously vetted practices to their colleagues in the medical community; yet, the value of bringing these individuals together can be intangible or difficult to quantify. Here are pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device products that have finally achieved brand status after undergoing an exhaustive investment of time and financial resources; yet, the impulse towards convenience and short-term gains in marketing these products can be overwhelming in today’s economic climate, and is deeply felt by all involved.
Recently, an Avant Healthcare Marketing panel of brand experts, medical professionals, and peer-to-peer strategists convened a roundtable forum to candidly discuss emerging issues and challenges our clients face in the wake of changing times. Moderated by Tammy Prouty, Chief Officer, the ensuing conversation covered the range of pressures, concerns, realities, and possibilities that brand marketers working within the peer-to-peer space encounter, program by program, as well as the responsibilities incumbent upon ourselves as brand stewards.
Presented in a series of installments as an opportunity to share our insights, part one of The State of Peer-to-Peer Marketing discussion focuses on the big changes in the peer-to-peer environment, the value perception of traditional peer-to-peer tactics, the crucial importance of metrics, and the role physician preferences play in optimizing brand awareness.